Descriere
After the enormous international success of The Phantom Atlas and The Golden Atlas, Edward Brooke-Hitching's stunning new book unveils some of the most beautiful maps and charts ever created during mankind's quest to map the skies above us.
This richly illustrated treasury showcases the finest examples of celestial cartography - a glorious genre of map-making often overlooked by modern map books - as well as medieval manuscripts, masterpiece paintings, ancient star catalogues, antique instruments and other appealing curiosities.
This is the sky as it has never been presented before: the realm of stars and planets, but also of gods, devils, weather wizards, flying sailors, medieval aliens, mythological animals and rampaging spirits. The reader is taken on a tour of star-obsessed cultures around the world, learning about Tibetan sky burials, star-covered Inuit dancing coats, Mongolian astral prophets and Sir William Herschel's 1781 discovery of Uranus, the first planet to be found since antiquity. Even stranger are the forgotten stories from European history, like the English belief of the Middle Ages in ships that sailed a sea above the clouds, 16th-century German UFO sightings and the Edwardian aristocrat who mistakenly mapped alien-made canals on the surface of Mars.
As the intricacies of our universe are today being revealed with unprecedented clarity, there has never been a better time for a highly readable book as beautiful as the night sky to contextualise the scale of these achievements for the general reader.
‘Combining myth and science, this breathtaking book explores our obsession with the sky. It’s packed with stunning images, from some of the first cave drawings of star charts to high-resolution photographs.’ (Daily Mail)
‘Stunning’ (Space.com)
‘A beautiful book, just stunning, using star maps to tell the stories of all the myths we once believed about the universe.’ Zoe Ball (BBC Radio 2)
‘A beautiful, beautiful book. The drawings, paintings, maps - just exquisite. So rich with wonderful stories.’ (Georgina Godwin, The Monocle)
‘This beautifully illustrated volume spans the history of astronomy and celestial cartography… Brooke-Hitching does a superb job of making this complex scientific subject accessible and exciting for readers. The art, astral maps, and photographs, many in lush, jewel-like colors, make this book shine. Readers will want to drink in every fine detail.’ (Booklist)
‘Following on from his stunning books The Phantom Atlas and The Golden Atlas, Mr. Brooke-Hitching’s latest work matches them with equally sumptuous illustrations and scholarship.’ (Diplomat)
‘One for the curio lover in your life. An illustrated treasury of celestial cartography featuring the greatest astronomical discoveries alongside stories about ancient UFO sightings, winged lunar creatures, a sea above the clouds and an Edwardian aristocrat who mapped alien life on Mars.’ (Herald)
‘So beautiful. How we thought of other planets, aliens, mythology... Particularly recommended.’ (Jen Campbell, author of The Bookshop Book)
'A beautiful new book. There are endless brilliant unforgettable stories in the Sky Atlas. So poetic… full of maps and illustrations.' -- Cerys Matthews, BBC Radio 6 Music‘
An incredible collection of cosmic maps, paintings and artefacts charting how we have imagined the heavens throughout history.’ , Big Issue
